(Reuters) – Leicester Tigers prop Ellis Genge says contracts in English rugby are “outdated” and that the game has to modernise its approach if it is to make progress.
The 25-year-old has previously called for a more independent players’ union amid dissatisfaction among fellow professionals over how clubs and authorities handled pay cuts due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You’ve still got contracts from 20 years ago and the game’s changed monumentally. You can imagine some of the weird stuff written in them,” Genge told British media.
“For us as a game to get off the ground … you see football, there are so many intricacies in their contracts and the way they’re written, some of the mad clauses.”
Genge said everyone in English rugby had the “exact same contract” unless there was a match bonus.
“… In France it’s a bit different with houses and cars,” he added. “The only thing that is different is the figure, which is crazy because every player is different. They should be able to open it up and really get creative with it.”
Several Premiership clubs asked their players to take 25% pay cuts in April after the pandemic shut down sport, prompting Genge to float the idea of a new players’ body.
“Hopefully it’ll spark a conversation,” the England prop said.
“I was saying it was the right time to do something, it started a few fires and hopefully they grow but people didn’t want to see it get off the ground in the higher echelons of the game and I grew tired of it.”
